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ASHEVILLE - White Labs, the San Diego-based yeast-production company, opened its Asheville outpost earlier this year.

The beer-biotech business's focus is yeast for makers of alcohol and other fermented beverages, including kombucha. But, this being Asheville, the company figured its latest location could also use boutique restaurant and tasting room. This is the lab's first foray into food.

Suitable for the house restaurant of a yeast maker, the menu is focused on showcasing the art of fermented funk.

But don't think fermented foods have to be so out-of-the-box. They're as familiar as a jar of pickles. They're as everyday as a slice of bread — or a slice of pizza.

The menu is plenty of fun and perfectly accessible. It includes a cheeseburger, a house-ferment plate and plenty of wood-fired pizzas, the crust slow-risen with the magic of White Labs pure liquid yeast cultures.

Look also for house-made fermented sauces, salads (yes, vinegar is a fermented product), and other beer-infused dishes and desserts.

The bar menu includes beer, of course: 28 rotating guest and house brews. The latter will offer the opportunity to taste side-by-side comparisons of the same beer types, fermented with various yeast strains.

"You might taste a Belgian or IPA made with four different yeasts," White explained to the Citizen-Times in December. Each beer tastes so distinctly different that almost anyone can quickly discern what yeast strains they most prefer, an extra level of beer geekery not often found in the average beer tasting.

That sort of experience is made possible by a 24-hectoliter brewhouse and 16 six-hectoliter fermenter tanks, located at the company’s San Diego-based headquarters, where batches of beer are split into separate vessels and inoculated with different strains.

White Labs Kitchen & Tap has seating for nearly 100, with a casual vibe and two large, 12-seat communal tables, additional chairs and bar tops, and floor-to-ceiling windows opening to a patio.

The front-of-house staff is led by White Labs Kitchen & Tap General Manager Chris Genua, who has nearly 20 years of restaurant and service industry experience. Genua previously worked in New Belgium Brewing’s tasting room. Kitchen operations are managed by head chef Evan Timmons.

White Labs Kitchen & Tap guests can also tour the facilities, and learn about the manufacturing of liquid yeast for the brewing, wine and spirits industries.

Public tours are available daily at 3 p.m., and can be reserved by signing up at the host stand.